API Spec Q2 governs service supply to the upstream oil and gas industry. Here is what auditors actually sample: the service quality plan, field personnel competence, contingency planning and management of change.
By Onega Ulanova · 9 min read · Topics: API Q2, API Q1, Oil and Gas, Service Quality, Certification
Most companies preparing for API Spec Q2 arrive with an ISO 9001 system and assume the gap is paperwork. It is not. Q2 asks a different question: can you prove that the specific crew who performed the specific service at the wellsite was competent, followed a plan written for that service, and had a contingency ready when conditions changed.
What is API Spec Q2? API Spec Q2 is the American Petroleum Institute specification for quality management systems of service supply organizations to the upstream oil and gas industry. It applies to companies that perform services at the wellsite or in support of it, such as wireline, cementing, coiled tubing, inspection and repair. Where API Spec Q1 controls the manufacture of product, Q2 controls the planning, resourcing, execution and evaluation of a service, and it requires service quality plans, verified field personnel competence, contingency planning and management of change.
Key takeaways
Q2 applies to services, Q1 applies to manufactured product. Companies that do both usually need both.
The service quality plan is the center of a Q2 system. Auditors trace it from contract review to the field execution record.
Field personnel competence must be verified per service, per person, and current on the date of the job. A signed training list is not evidence.
Contingency planning and management of change are the two requirements ISO 9001 systems most often lack entirely.
Certification is issued by API, not by a consultant. A consultant prepares you and runs the mock audit.
Typical timeline: four to six months from a working ISO 9001 system, eight to twelve from an undocumented start.
Who needs API Spec Q2
You need Q2 when an operator or a tier-one service company writes it into your contract or prequalification, which is now routine in the Gulf of Mexico, the Permian, offshore Guyana and much of the Middle East. Typical Q2 organizations include:
Wireline, slickline and logging companies
Cementing, stimulation and pumping services
Coiled tubing, fishing and remedial services
Inspection, NDE and third-party verification providers
Machine shops performing repair and remanufacture as a service
Rental tool providers who also run the tool
If you manufacture equipment and also run it in the field, you are looking at both specifications. That is not double the work: the management system requirements overlap heavily and only the execution layer differs.
API Q1 vs Q2: what actually differs
Both specifications share risk assessment, management of change, contingency planning, nonconformance, corrective action, internal audit and management review. The difference is what is being controlled and therefore what evidence the auditor samples.
Dimension API Spec Q1 API Spec Q2
Applies to Manufacturing organizations Service supply organizations
Object of control Product Service delivery
Central plan Quality plan for the product or contract Service quality plan for the service and contract
Core evidence Drawings, routings, material certs, inspection records, release Service quality plans, competence verifications, field tickets, post-job reviews
Competence focus Inspectors, welders, operators, special processes Field personnel per service, with revalidation intervals
Design Design and development requirements apply Service design where the service is designed by the organization
Supplier control Purchasing of materials and outsourced processes Purchasing plus subcontracted services and rented equipment
Release point Product release before shipment Service execution and post-job evaluation at the wellsite
The service quality plan is the whole system
A service quality plan defines, for a given service and a given contract, what will be done, by whom, with what equipment, to what acceptance criteria, and what records will be produced. Auditors sample it because it is the only document that ties customer requirements to a field record.
A plan that survives an API audit names:
the service and its scope boundaries
the customer and regulatory requirements the plan satisfies
each activity in sequence, with hold points and acceptance criteria
the personnel qualifications required at each activity
the equipment, calibration status and consumables needed
the records generated and where they are retained
the contingencies for the identified risks
The most common finding is a plan written once, generically, and never traceable to the job that was actually performed. If a plan cannot be produced for the ticket the auditor picks at random, the finding is a major.
Field personnel competence
Q2 treats competence as a per-service, per-person determination that someone verified and recorded. That means a competence matrix by service line, an authorized signer for each verification, evidence of the verification method used (witnessed performance, examination, documented experience), and a defined revalidation interval. Training attendance is an input to competence, never a substitute for it.
The practical test: pick a name off last month''s field ticket and produce that person''s verified competence for that service, current on the date of the job. Most systems fail this test on the date, not on the record.
Contingency planning
Contingency planning asks what you do when the plan cannot be followed: equipment failure at the wellsite, weather, a competent operator unavailable, a supplier that cannot deliver, loss of a facility. Q2 wants identified scenarios, planned responses, assigned responsibilities and, for the significant ones, evidence the response was exercised or reviewed. This is the requirement ISO 9001 organizations most often discover they have nothing for.
Management of change
Any change to a service, a procedure, a facility, key personnel or an approved supplier must be assessed for impact, approved by a named authority and communicated before it takes effect. In audits, the failure is rarely the absence of a process. It is a change that clearly happened, such as a new service line or a new field location, with no change record behind it.
Risk assessment
Q2 expects documented risk assessment at the service level and at the job level, with the significant risks driving the service quality plan and the contingencies. Assessments that live in a spreadsheet nobody has touched since the last audit are treated as absent, because nothing downstream references them.
The certification path
Gap assessment. Map your current system, ISO 9001 or otherwise, against Q2 clause by clause. Expect the largest gaps in service planning, competence verification, contingency and management of change.
Build and operate. Write the service quality plans for your real service lines, stand up competence verification, and run the system long enough to generate records. API wants operating evidence, not a binder.
Internal audit and management review. Both are required inputs before you apply, and both must be complete cycles with findings driving corrective action.
Mock audit. Have the system audited the way API audits it, ideally by someone who has performed those audits, while you still have time to close findings.
API audit. Apply through API, host the audit, close findings and receive the certificate. Only API issues it.
Realistic timeline for an organization starting from a working ISO 9001 system: four to six months. Starting from nothing documented: eight to twelve.
The five findings we see most often
Generic service quality plan. One template used for every service, not traceable to the job sampled.
Competence expired. The record exists but lapsed before the job was performed, or the verifier was never authorized.
Contingency plan on paper only. Scenarios listed, no responsibilities, no evidence of review or exercise.
Undocumented change. A new service line, location or key hire with no change assessment behind it.
Post-job evaluation missing. Field tickets closed with no quality evaluation and no route into corrective action.
What this looks like in QMS2GO
Service quality plans, competence verification by service line, contingency records, management of change and the internal audit to management review loop are all first-class records in QMS2GO, which is why the evidence exists when the auditor samples it instead of being assembled the week before. If you want the requirement-by-requirement view, start with the API Spec Q1 and Q2 software page .
Frequently Asked Questions
What is API Spec Q2?
API Spec Q2 is the American Petroleum Institute specification for quality management systems of service supply organizations to the upstream oil and gas industry. It requires service quality plans, verified field personnel competence, contingency planning, management of change and risk assessment.
Is API Q2 the same as API Q1?
No. Q1 covers manufacturing of product, Q2 covers the delivery of services to the upstream industry. Organizations that manufacture and also perform field service typically hold both.
Does ISO 9001 satisfy API Q2?
No. ISO 9001 is a useful base, but Q2 adds service quality plans, per-service competence verification, contingency planning and management of change requirements that ISO 9001 does not specify.
Who issues API Q2 certificates?
The American Petroleum Institute, through its registrar program. Consultants prepare organizations and can run internal and mock audits, but cannot issue the certificate.
How long does API Q2 certification take?
Four to six months from a functioning ISO 9001 system, eight to twelve months from an undocumented start, plus API scheduling time.
What is a service quality plan?
A document that defines, for one service and contract, the activities in sequence, acceptance criteria and hold points, required personnel qualifications, equipment and calibration status, records produced and the contingencies for identified risks.
Do subcontractors need to be API Q2 certified?
Not automatically, but you must evaluate, approve and monitor them, and control the services they perform on your behalf as part of your own system.
How much does API Q2 certification cost?
Costs are API application and audit fees plus your own implementation effort, and they scale with the number of service lines, facilities and field locations in scope. Ask API for current fees; treat any single quoted number you see elsewhere as unreliable.
Sources
API Spec Q2, Quality Management System Requirements for Service Supply Organizations for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries
API Spec Q1, Quality Management System Requirements for Manufacturing Organizations
ISO 9001:2015, Quality management systems, Requirements
More reading
API Q2 consultant and former API lead auditor
API Q1 consultant
What is API Q1?
What is API Spec Q1 10th Edition?
Free quality management gap checklist
QMS2GO is the audit-ready operating system for ISO 9001 manufacturers — documentation, registers, internal audits, CAPA, suppliers, production, and QuickBooks data in one connected quality management system. Manufacturing teams use it to build, run, and prove their ISO 9001 system without spreadsheets or scattered SharePoint folders.
Browse all articles · See the QMS software · Book a demo · Get a free ISO 9001 roadmap